Hey there SSPX folks,

Just sending out a "howdie" to my fellow SSPX folk who took the courage and time to join this site and try it out.  If it worked for you, by all means, please share. I'd like to know.

This current state of the Church is - mildly put - "inconvenient" for a Traditional Catholic who is just trying to follow what Holy Mother Church has always taught through the centuries, and at the same time finding friends with common ground. I'm talking about both religious and secular common ground.

You have people out there who have been Traditional Catholic all their life and lived a life that fostered a Catholic environment. And then comes school. Or for some that did home schooling, then comes college. What do you do with that, right? You get to use your social skills - or LEARN social skills - and finally find people that understand you and like to hang out with you. You all thrive in that common area. But then there's religion. So you do your part in "restoring all things in Christ" and answer moral/ethical/religious questions the best way you know how. In the process, you lose a few friends along the way but then there are the ones that stick with you in the name of "modern ecuminism" (though they won't outright say it) and everyone will get along as long as we don't discuss the R-word.

And then you have the Traditional Catholics that came on board later. Maybe they came when they were adults or at least in their teens. They've been in the world for a little longer than the homeschooler, but they also want to live a life that is pleasing to Our Lord and Our Lady. But many-a-time they feel like an outsider in the parish because they can't really relate with their homeschooled counter-parts. There's a bit of small talk after Mass, but it doesn't really amount to much. They, too, have "secular" friends but their connection only extends to where religion only begins.

To both, praying grace before meals is almost a "show" infront of friends, going out is definitely a time to keep your guard to anything that is an occasion of sin, and the depth of conversations only reach the level of natural level.

And then there's dating. In the end, you find yourself dating someone in your circle of friends. If your social time is 85% with non-Catholics and 15% with Catholics, chances are, you're going to be telling your loved one about how Catholicism is THAT important to you and you can't bring yourself to have premaritial relations. The relationship is rather bitter-sweet.

What to do, what to do? Is it that hard to find Traditional Catholics? Till next time......